They set off again, with Cao Yanhua now driving.

Under the tremendous pressure of “distrust,” Cao Yanhua drove with excessive caution and at a snail’s pace. The sky began to darken, as if Leopard’s shadow was reforming.

What strange method had Leopard’s grandfather used? Summoning? Enticement?

Huo Zihong felt there would be endless trouble: “Might Ya Feng know this method too? Could she find the ominous slips before us?”

Ya Feng had been captured along with Leopard’s subordinates, but despite thorough interrogation, nothing substantial was revealed. Besides, she truly had no overseas connections, so she might have already been released.

Luo Ren shook his head: “Ya Feng and Leopard aren’t on the same level.”

How to put it? Ya Feng was at most a malicious-minded person who accidentally resonated with the ominous slips, and the information she could perceive from them was limited.

The leopard was different. From her ancestors onward, she had deep connections with the previous generation of ominous slips, and her ancestors were known to be the only ones who had committed all seven evil deeds.

Luo Ren couldn’t forget Huo Zihong’s theory about “activation”: “I still lean toward what Hong Sha said—as a descendant of those who worshipped the ominous slips, Leopard’s blood was different from others.”

Cao Yanhua’s palms sweated on the steering wheel: “Brother Xiao Luo, our entire Cao Family Village… seems to be descended from worshippers of the ominous slips.”

Luo Ren smiled: “This is different. From the Qin Dynasty until now, your village has gone through too many generations of reproduction, and not every worshipper wanted to ‘restore the great cause’—some just wanted to live peaceful lives.”

As he said this, he suddenly recalled Ya Feng’s words.

—He’s different from you all. Many people in Cao Family Village are different.

—How are they different?

—Born different.

—And you’re different too?

—My heart is wicked.

Luo Ren frowned. Thinking back, Ya Feng’s answer contained information.

This “difference” had two reasons.

First, born different.

Second, wicked-hearted.

Luo Ren sighed deeply: “Leopard met both conditions. She was ‘born’ different, and her vicious heart is well-known. More importantly, several generations ago, her ancestors committed the seven evil deeds.”

Not everyone’s blood could perform such a summoning.

Yi Wansan suddenly interjected: “Also, I think there’s another reason why the sixth ominous slip delivered itself.”

“Blood, simply put, is a liquid with a bloody smell, but more complexly, it contains much genetic information. With DNA alone, one might replicate a person.”

He pointed to Luo Ren: “At that time, the ominous slips had already begun to deal with us—didn’t Ya Feng use some trafficking information to lure us all to Cao Family Village? Could the sixth ominous slip have sensed from Leopard’s blood that she was Luo Ren’s enemy, and Luo Ren happened to be the target of the ominous slips?”

Luo Ren felt a chill down his spine.

If that were true, then the appearance of the sixth slip wasn’t solely due to the ritual summoning. It was a careful selection, a mutual need, a desire from both sides, and a powerful alliance.

Leopard’s ancestors, when heading to Southeast Asia, probably knew the ominous slips had been sealed. The ritual of burning blood paintings was performed with great wishful thinking. When dispatching those seven people, Leopard’s great-grandfather didn’t know if they would succeed.

Therefore, after the great achievement, he died of joy, mumbling, “It’s open, it’s open again,” referring to the seven ominous slips being opened again.

If the appearance of the sixth ominous slip was so complex, then Leopard couldn’t possibly know where the seventh one was. She had been searching for it all along. The “hide” didn’t mean she had hidden the slip; it meant the slip itself had cleverly hidden away.

Huo Zihong frowned: “It must be very difficult to find. These ominous slips sometimes really have intelligence—I still remember how it feared water yet attached itself to an old clam to avoid it.”

Yi Wansan calculated the days: “Of the seventy-seven days, we have… nineteen, twenty days left. In twenty days, we need to go to Fog Town first. To find the Phoenix Luan Button, we might also need to visit Long Town. If the seventh slip is hidden too deviously, and the Phoenix Luan Button doesn’t provide any powerful hints, the result… is hard to predict.”

The atmosphere in the car suddenly became heavy.

The last leg of a journey marks the halfway point. On the surface, with six slips in hand, the situation seemed promising, but who could have imagined that a single timing issue could set everything back to square one?

This “square one” certainly didn’t refer to the Cao Liberation.

No one spoke; they were all silently calculating the days.

Twenty days, less than three weeks, 480 hours—all could pass in a flash.

Cao Yanhua suddenly pressed the horn forcefully, in high spirits.

“Don’t be so pessimistic! Look at it from another angle. With good luck, in twenty days, we’ll completely bid farewell to this troublesome quest to subdue the ominous slips, and we can live peaceful lives! Hey, what will you all do then?”

Yi Wansan glanced at him: “What will you do?”

Cao Yanhua had a plan full of ambition: “Me? I have many things to do. I’m thinking of returning to Cao Family Village for a visit, enough of the family discord… I want to practice martial arts properly with my Master, work at the bar to earn money, find ways to boost the business at Phoenix Pavilion… I was looking online the other day, and many film crews come to the ancient city to shoot. If they need martial arts performers, I’ll sign up, even as an extra. Maybe Jackie Chan will come too…”

His face glowed with joy as he spoke, his eyes full of longing for the beautiful life after these twenty days.

To varying degrees, everyone’s mood was lifted.

Yi Wansan thought for a moment: “Me… I’ll pay off my debt first. It feels awkward always owing thirteen thousand.”

Huo Zihong interjected: “Better than me, I owe over three hundred thousand.”

She sighed: “Soon, everyone might call me Three Hundred Thousand instead of Hong Sha.”

Luo Ren smiled: “Regarding Hong Sha’s debt, I have an idea.”

Yi Wansan slapped his thigh: “I thought of it too! Luo Ren, let’s see if we’re on the same wavelength.”

He found a piece of paper, cut it in half, and handed one half to Luo Ren. Both lowered their heads and wrote something. Huo Zihong was extremely curious. She wanted to see what Luo Ren was writing, but Mu Dai was blocking the way. She wanted to see what Yi Wansan was writing, but he was sitting in the back compartment and deliberately shielding his hand, so she couldn’t see anything.

After a while, they exchanged papers. Yi Wansan had written “stone,” and Luo Ren had written “Old Man Yan.”

Huo Zihong suddenly understood.

Mu Dai smiled at her: “I’ve been thinking too. Your grandfather’s last treasure, well, contained gemstones; they were just moved to the cave, under that Sweeping Fine Lady’s bed. That batch of raw stones should be worth quite a bit.”

Cao Yanhua had a realization: “Right, right! After everything is settled, we’ll make a trip to Four Villages and help Sister Hong Sha retrieve those raw stones to sell and pay off her debt.”

Is this proper? Huo Zihong bit her lip without speaking. Deep down, she truly wanted to get rid of this unfair debt, but was it appropriate to use it all for herself?

Luo Ren smiled at her: “Let’s decide on this. Use these unclear funds to clear a debt you shouldn’t bear. At your fine age, you should be working hard to earn money for a better life, not to repay debts.”

This reminded Mu Dai: “I also need to return to Cao Family Village with Fat Cao. Back in the underground tunnel, there were many skeletons. I vowed then that if I escaped safely, I would bury all those remains. There are quite a few silver dollars in the tunnel, so expenses shouldn’t be a problem.”

It seemed someone hadn’t spoken yet. Cao Yanhua’s eyes rolled as he looked at Luo Ren through the rearview mirror: “Brother Xiao Luo, what about you?”

Luo Ren smiled: “I’ll do what needs to be done.”

Cao Yanhua wasn’t satisfied: “Brother Xiao Luo, we’ve all worked hard for so many days, shouldn’t we celebrate? You’ve been leading all along, you should at least take us out for a meal or a trip…”

Mu Dai nodded: “That’s right, you also said you’d take me mountain climbing.”

In a flash of inspiration, Cao Yanhua had an idea: “Marriage! Brother Xiao Luo, marry my Little Master!”

Marriage?

Luo Ren was taken aback, and Mu Dai was also caught off guard.

However, one completely unrelated person became ecstatic.

“Marriage is great!” Shen Gun danced with excitement. “You must get married. I love watching people get married. I’ll officiate.”

He was sitting in the passenger seat, restrained by the seatbelt, his arms not long enough to reach Luo Ren, though he was itching to.

“Little Radish, officiating is my specialty. I even have formal attire! Iron it, and there won’t be a single wrinkle!”

“You must get married in my friend’s inn room, a honeymoon suite, incredibly auspicious.”

Huo Zihong didn’t understand: How could a honeymoon suite be auspicious?

Shen Gun proudly launched into a detailed explanation.

According to him, he had a good friend called Little Maomao who also ran an inn in Renli Ancient City, not far from Lijiang.

Shortly after the inn opened, another pair of his friends—a perfect match of talent and beauty who had overcome numerous hardships—got married at the inn. The bridal chamber was one of the inn’s guest rooms, decorated by Shen Gun, Little Maomao, and his family.

“I officiated the wedding! Then sent them into the bridal chamber. Think about it, that room received dual blessings from me and my friend, and from then on, it has been overflowing with auspicious joy at all times.”

“After those two got married, they became inseparable…”

He held back the second half of his thought: they had a fierce little brat who was truly annoying.

“At first, Little Maomao reserved the room exclusively for them, regularly cleaning it and not allowing others to stay. But those two rarely visited the ancient city, and the inn needed to do business, so it became selectively available to the public.”

What did “selectively” mean? Reportedly, it only received newlyweds and deeply in love couples. Anyone who stayed in that room would have a smooth and harmonious relationship afterward. Even more miraculously, Little Maomao exceptionally accommodated a couple on the verge of divorce. After one night of pouring out their hearts to each other in the room, they decided not to divorce and returned home hand in hand to a new life.

Yi Wansan rolled his eyes, thinking: Malicious marketing, hype.

Shen Gun was enthusiastic: “Really, Little Radish, you might not even be able to stay there. But fortunately, you know me. In such an auspicious room, you must get married there…”

Mu Dai was somewhat tempted.

She might not truly believe the room was magical, but absorbing some auspicious joy would certainly be heartwarming. She turned her head, seemingly casually glancing at Luo Ren.

Luo Ren smiled. He could read Mu Dai’s thoughts at a glance.

Marriage was a major life event. Although he didn’t have a fully developed plan, a so-called auspicious room in an ancient city wasn’t enough to move him, and with only twenty days left, it felt rushed.

However, he had a compromise.

He leaned toward Mu Dai, smiling meaningfully: “How about this? Let’s have a pre-wedding there first, to familiarize ourselves with the process and borrow some joy from our predecessors?”

Mu Dai thought this was feasible. The pre-wedding proposal was good: since the meeting, she and Luo Ren had been busy with the ominous slips and hadn’t properly dated. Being rushed into marriage wasn’t something she particularly wanted.

Everyone was looking at her, waiting for her to nod. No, she needed to maintain her dignity.

She blinked her eyes, neither saying yes nor no, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Just then, from the back compartment came Cao Liberation’s excited voice: “He… Do… Lo…”

A little scruffy chicken, no one knew why it was getting involved. Could it even understand?

After a brief silence, Yi Wansan, sitting in the additional seat in the back compartment, calmly reached out his hand and patted Luo Ren’s shoulder.

“Brother Xiao Luo, my little lady boss is hesitating, but Cao Liberation says she’s willing. Maybe you should consider it instead?”

…

“Get lost.”